Orange Julius

Orange Julius

INGREDIENTS:
Orange juice or can (1 cup water)
Milk-1 cup
Vanilla-1 tsp
Sugar-1/2 cup
Ice cubes
HOW TO PREPARE:
Blend in blender

Or

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
1 cup milk
6oz frozen OJ
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Ice cubes
HOW TO PREPARE:
Blend in blender

This is a cinnamon roll recipe with a homemade apple pie filling in the center, topped with a maple glaze. It is truly delicious. I use my challah bread recipe for the dough, as is it velvety and very soft. 

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS:

Challah bread dough:

1 ½ cups warm water

½ cup honey

1 tbsp oil

4 eggs

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp yeast

7-8 cups flour

Mix together all ingredients, except for flour. Add the flour, cup by cup, until the dough comes together enough to start pulling aside from the bowl. Pour out onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as you go to keep it smooth and not sticking to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes. Put dough in a large, greased bowl. Cover top with plastic wrap. Allow to proof until the dough has almost doubled, about 1 ½ hours. While the dough is proving, make the apple pie filling below. 

Homemade apple pie filling:

5-6 apples, peeled and cored

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

dash of ground cloves

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1 tbsp water

2 tsp cornstarch

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1/2 tsp vanilla extract

HOW TO PREPARE:

Chop apples into small pieces and put in a medium saucepan. Stir in lemon juice. Add 3 tbsp butter and turn stove onto medium heat. After the butter has melted, stir in brown sugar, water, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Cook on medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. 

In a small bowl, stir together water and cornstarch. Add to saucepan and stir frequently until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.

Once the bread dough has risen, sprinkle flour on your countertop and roll out the challah bread into a big rectangle. Spread apple pie filling all over. Roll up and cut into 2 inch wide pieces. Place in very large greased pan OR in two greased 13x9" pans. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. 

Remove plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until rolls are brown and cooked through. 

Maple glaze:

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp maple flavoring

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Milk

Stir together the powdered sugar, maple and vanilla extracts. Then add milk, a little at a time, stirring until you reach a good pouring consistency. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more milk. Pour glaze over hot apple cinnamon rolls. 

Pistachio Fruit Salad

 My sister-in-law shared this recipe with me. With the green and red colors, it's perfect for Christmas. 

Pistachio Fruit Salad

INGREDIENTS:

2 (3 ½ oz) boxes instant pistachio pudding

2 (12 oz) containers Cool Whip

½ cup maraschino cherries

1 bag mini marshmallows

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, not drained

HOW TO PREPARE:

Chop the cherries into fourths, but reserve a few for the top whole. Mix pudding with cool whip and pineapple. Add chopped cherries and marshmallows. Combine well. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but overnight is better. Garnish with whole maraschino cherries.

Blueberry Syrup

I found this recipe on Pinterest. This recipe is so good.

This photo is found here. 

Blueberry Syrup

INGREDIENTS:
5 cups blueberries
4 cups water, divided
2 cups sugar
¼ cup lemon juice

HOW TO PREPARE:
In a pot, stir in blueberries with ½ cup water. Bring to a simmer and crush blueberries. Simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the juice through a large mesh strainer, pressing firmly on the berries. Keep the juice and discard the pulp. Rinse out the pot. Add sugar and 3 ½ cups of water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil the syrup over medium heat until it reduces, about 20 minutes. Add the blueberry juice and lemon juice and boil over high heat for 1 minute. Let cool and pour into an airtight container. Seal and refrigerate.

Teriyaki Burgers

I've never made my own hamburgers before this recipe. We made these for Father's Day and they were a HUGE hit! I made some alterations to make it mine. Enjoy!

Teriyaki Burgers

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup ketchup

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp unsweetened crushed pineapple

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp sesame oil

BURGERS:

1 egg

2/3 cup dry bread crumbs

6 green onions, chopped

4 tbsp unsweetened crushed pineapple

4 lbs ground beef

10 slices unsweetened pineapple

10 King's Hawaiian Sweet Sandwich Rolls

HOW TO PREPARE:

In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil; set aside. In a large bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, onions, crushed pineapple and 6 tbsp of the reserved ketchup mixture. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 burgers. Grill, brushing with remaining ketchup mixture. Grill or broil pineapple slices for 2-3 minutes on each side or until heated through. 

Peach Crisp

This recipe is so delicious. It's work - because there are 3 layers, but super worth it. I've never had anyone not LOVE this dessert.

Peach Crisp

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup flour

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter

Pat into greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

3 16oz cans of sliced peaches in juice

1/3 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

Drain peaches; reserve juice in saucepan-add sugar & cornstarch. Whisk well. Bring to a boil stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in peaches, pour onto crust.

Mix 1 ½ cups quick oats, 1/3 cups brown sugar, ¼ cup flour, cut into 5 tbsp butter. Mix & sprinkle over filling. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

I found this recipe here. My friend, Sarah, shared it with me. So delicious!

 Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

VANILLA CAKE

3 ¾ cups flour

3 cups sugar

4 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup milk

¾ cup oil

1 ½ tbsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 ½ cup water

BERRY FILLING

2 ¼ cup mixed berries

4 ½ tbsp water

1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar

4 ½ tbsp cornstarch

WHIPPED MASCARPONE FROSTING

2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

16 oz mascarpone cheese, chilled

CAKE LAYERS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease three 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper.

2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

5. Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

7. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans.

BERRY FILLING

8. To make the berry topping, add the berries and water to a food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about 1 cup puree.

9. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berry puree.

10. Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.

11. Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Refrigerate and allow to cool completely.

FROSTING AND ASSEMBLY

12. Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.

13. Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. It will happen fairly quickly. Set whipped frosting in the refrigerator.

14. To assemble the cake, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes.

15. Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round. Pipe a dam of frosting around the outside of the cake. I use Ateco tip 808 for the dam so that it’s tall.

16. Spread half of the berry filling evenly on top of the cake layer, inside the dam. It should fill the dam about half way full.

17. Add some additional mascarpone frosting to the top of the berry filling and spread into an even layer to fill in the remaining dam space.

18. Add the second layer of cake and repeat the filling layer with the remaining berry filling and additional mascarpone frosting.

19. Add the final layer of cake on top, then smooth out the frosting around the sides of the cake.

20. Frost the outside of the cake.

21. Finish off the cake with some swirls of frosting and fresh berries.

22. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Cake is best for 2-3 days.

Lion House Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

So, I am picky about sweet breads. Oh, who am I kidding, I am picky about FOOD. Whenever someone brings food over to me, I am skeptical about liking it or it being as good as something else I make. It's shameful, right? But, that is how I currently am. So, my good friend, Tanisha, brought me some chocolate chip banana bread. I decided to try a bite. Oh. My. Heaven. It was fabulous - which is why I am posting it here, with her permission. :) I found the recipe and picture below here.

Lion House Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. smashed up bananas
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt

You can bake it in small loaf pans instead of the big ones. It makes six or eight of them if you do a double batch.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so (small pans) or until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Try to hide a couple loaves before your kids eat them all. And I didn't get a personal photo of the bread, because, um, we ate it too fast.

Pink Stuff

This recipe is simply known as "pink stuff"! You can add whatever fruits you want!

Pink Stuff
INGREDIENTS:
small curd cottage cheese
cool whip (small carton)
1 small box of jello (I like strawberry)
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 can mandarin oranges, drained

HOW TO PREPARE:
Stir together. Chill overnight or for a few hours before serving.